Forces of Motivation for Adult Learners (Essay Sample)

Forces of Motivation for Adult Learners
Name
Institution
Table of Contents
Andragogy……………………………………………………………… 3
Characteristics of Adult Learning……………………………………….... 5
Recommendation to the Problems Facing Adult Learning……………….. 6
Learning Styles in Adult Learning………………………………...……… 7
Criticism Concerning Adult Learning……………………………………..9
Adult Learning Theory in Relation to Andragogy………………….……..10
New Trends in Adult Learning………………………………………….....11
Psychological Motivation in Adult Learning………………….…………. 13
Characteristics of Internally Motivated Learners……………………….....15
Barriers to Adult Learning…………………………………………… …16
Factors that Promote Adult Learning……………………………… .….. 17
Principles of Lifelong Learning…………………………………...………17
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………18
List of References………………………………………………………….21
Abstract
Andragogy is the facilitation of adult learning and all those activities that encompass adult learning. This paper looks at the three groups of adult learners who include the employed, unemployed and the retired.
Adult learning is collaborative where the instructor does not teach like in pedagogy rather they facilitate the learning process. Currently there are new trends in adult learning where learning even takes place through online mediums. This is contrast to the earlier days where learning could only take place in a classroom setting.
The characteristics of adult learners are discussed in relation to pedagogy. Recommendations on how the problems facing adult learners can be solved are included in this article. It is important to note that the instructor in adult learning employs different styles of learning in order to cater for the differences among the clients.
Adult learning also has criticism with some arguing that all issues in adult learning are not fully addressed since learners have varying past histories. Motivation and barriers in adult learning have also been discussed. Motivation by the adult learner is contained in the social and psychological contexts. The two types of motivation include intrinsic and extrinsic.
Lifelong learning has been discussed as an emerging trend and the characteristics of internally motivated learners are as well discussed in this paper. It has been determined that the main reason why adults engage in learning is for their social good.
Forces of Motivation for Adult Learners
Andragogy is the art of helping adults learn. It is a new concept that has emerged with an aim of facilitating development and implementation of activities involved in adult learning. Andragogy was based on several assumptions about the adult learner (Adult Education Colloquium & Radovan, 2003, p.21). These assumptions include: Adults are driven by the need to know and hence they are required to know the reason for learning. The other one is that adults draw their experiences in learning. Self-concepts that adult learners become responsible for the decision they make on education include planning and evaluation of the learning process.
Adult learners are divided into three groups, namely the employed, unemployed and retired people. The employed adults engage in adult learning at their will or the initiative of his/her employer. The unemployed engage in learning for the purpose of gaining new skills, so that they can be able to participate effectively in the job market (Adult Education Colloquium & Radovan, 2003, p.35). They can be coerced by the society to get back to learning through withdrawal form their jobs. The retired individuals have different reasons for engaging in learning. Their reason for involvement in adult learning may be to find something that they can do in their retirement. Learning for them may also be the personal fulfillment and the quest for knowledge (Pont & Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2003, p. 37).
Andragogy
Education among adults is a collaborative endeavor and interdisciplinary. The collaboration aspect was viewed in research and practiced as there was innovation in the research involving adult education (Pantzar, 2007, p. 29). In andragogy, adult learners were closely associated with the assumptions of their new social roles. The other assumption of andragogy is that when adult learns get new knowledge, they were determined to apply it to problem solving. Finally, there is an assumption of motivation when an adult learner usually receives the motivation to learn from internal factors.
These assumptions of andragogy help in the creation of good learning opportunities for adult learners. Learning adults get involved in needs to be applicable and relevant according to the learners’ experience (Adult Learning Knowledge Centre & Ontario Literacy Coalition, 2012, p. 56). Experience is an essential factor for the adult learner as it helps in the creation of the ability to retain and also to transfer knowledge.
Adults were involved in transformational learning where through critical thinking transformation can be affected. Andragogy assumes a design of learning, which states that adults usually have the need to know why it is important for them to learn something new. The other assumption is that adult learners learn by involving themselves by practically doing. The other assumption is that adult learners are problem-solvers. Finally, individuals involved in andragogy learn best when the material covered is to be used immediately (Pont & Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2003, p. 25).
Adult learners have unique attributes that need to be distinguished to be able to incorporate the principles used in adult learning for the design of instructions. It can thus be argued that adult learning is aimed at improving adults’ skills, knowledge, and the goals of organizational performance by applying the learnt skills to work (Adult Education Colloquium & Radovan, 2003, p. 67). It is worth noting that the theories of adult learning support the assumption that the mode in which adults learn is commonly self-directed and that adult learner have the need to apply their new skills to work. Adult learners also collaborate more in learning through their experiences. Research suggests that circumstances constituting the environment are responsible for the promotion or discouragement of learning.
These circumstances were created by the organizational structure, and they can lead to negative or positive situation, hence affecting the process of learning. Theorists of learning argue that the learning process that requires practice may take longer as compared to the one that does not require it (Pont & Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2003, p. 41). As such, the consideration of time in the process of learning is an important element. It was required that organizations consider time in learning, so that they can encourage and accelerate the learning process.
According to, adults learning theory, andragogy offers adults meaningful advantages in the process of learning. It argues that learning is usually effective, especially when the learner has experience. The theory proposes experimentation of new experiences, evaluation, reasoning, and reflection as being vital in order for learning to take place (Pantzar, 2007, p. 48). In the adult learning theory, personal responsibility, behavior, and perspectives are all critical factors. Adult learning has proved that learning is interactive as involves the use of theory and practice. In other words, adult learners learn theories and put those theories into work.
Today, many adults conceptualize the idea of learning as designed by the instructor and to occur in a classroom setting. They view it as if they have to sit in classes in order for them to learn. There are new approaches when adult learners were subjected to an environment of online learning (Adult Education Colloquium & Radovan, 2003, p. 54). This is particularly common to those learners who have a busy schedule. Hence, the online mode of learning appears to favor them. In this mode of learning, there is the use of technology in learning and, the instructor is aware what learners need and want as long as learning is concerned.
Instructors employ models and learning theories, including andragogy while working with adults online or when there is distance learning (Adult Learning Knowledge Centre & O...